Richard's whining woke me up.

It was early morning.  The sky was still dark, and the wind howled and whistled. Cold, I looked beside me to find empty sheets.

I pulled on one of Siren's red cloaks and ran down to the lodge, an uneasiness brewing in the pit of my stomach. 

"Where's Will?"

Koji and Jo both stiffened, and Rover became extremely interested in the contents of his breakfast.

I looked to Siren, my gut seizing and dropping into frigid waters. "Where is he?"

I ran, weaving through the pines, leaping over the creek. Panicking.

His figure came into focus after several minutes.

"Will!"                                

He paused, twisting his head back. He wore a black winter coat and a belt equipped with a vanadium sword and carving knife.  Over his shoulder hung a small traveling pack and a canteen of water.

"You can't leave."             

This was ridiculous.  He was one boy.  One kid traveling back through a dense, demon-infested forest to the home of all our enemies.  Alone.

What would the others say? They'd think he'd betrayed us. They'd think he'd deliver confidential information to Godric, that he'd been a spy all along. All that trust he'd built would shatter the moment he vanished.

"Alex, I have to go," he said. "It's my family who's killing yours.  It's my responsibility to try and end this."

I stepped closer, imploring him to turn around.  "Let me come with you then. I'll get my stuff.  We can go togeth—"

"No!" he snapped, and I shrank back. I'd never heard him raise his voice like that, and he seemed to realize he'd alarmed me, dropping his shoulders. He turned to face me. "Just...stay here, Alex.  Please stay here. I'll be back in two months.  If not, then assume I'm dead, and don't come after me."

Two months?

"You can't expect me to do that." There was so much that needed to be said.  Things I wasn't ready to say.  Things he wasn't ready to hear.  "Don't say you're doing this to protect me, Will. You know I hate that."

"I'm not doing it for you." He stared down at his fist, the writing on his knuckles. "I'm tired of doing nothing. I'm sick of waiting for them to make the first move. That's all I've ever done."

The wind picked up again, and the trees moaned as they strained against their roots.  Hair billowed around our faces, and I was back in Belgate, speaking to my father for the last time.

"What if something happens?" I asked.  I could feel things spiraling out of my control, slipping through my fingers and leaving blisters. "What if you get hurt?  What if...what if they convince you to stay?"

He didn't say anything, and my chest caved inward.

"You're just going to leave Siren? And Harmon?" I knew he cared about them, even if he tried not to show it. 

But there was nothing.  Just emptiness in his dark, emotionless eyes.  It made me angry how easily he could dismiss his feelings. He could walk away from everything without saying goodbye.  Just like Tom.

Neither of us spoke for a stretch of time, and each second of silence filled my heart with poison.

"Fine," I said thickly. "Then just...be safe."

I felt the tears coming, and I hated being so emotional, so juvenile.  I knew deep down he might actually succeed, that infiltrating Godric's inner circle was a good plan. It was selfish, trying to keep him here.

I turned to go back inside before he could see me cry, but he caught my wrist, holding me still.

"Alex..." His grip scalded the skin beneath his touch.  "I'll talk to Godric, I'll figure out his plans. Then I'll come back."

"Don't make a promise you can't keep."           

"I'm not."                

I didn't know if he meant he wasn't making a promise, or if he wasn't planning on breaking it.  It was always a mystery with him. 

As his fingers loosened on my arm, I cracked.

"You can't just...you can't leave me too," I whispered.  The familiar stinging behind my eyes made me close them to block the swelling tide.  "Everybody leaves." 

Mom.  Dad.  Tom.            

Sol and Jaden.                   

They all left me behind for another place, either blank space or heaven or somewhere in between.  It didn't matter, because I wasn't with them.   

When I opened my eyes, Will stood before me, shaking his head.

"I'll never leave you," he said softly.  "But I have to go."  

I released a breathy sigh. "You sound like Nova.  Talking in riddles."

"It's not a riddle, Alex."

With the softest of smiles on his face, he bent forward and pressed his lips to my cheek. 

If I hadn't watched him do it, I might have mistaken the pressure on my skin for a shift of the wind—it was so soft, so subtle.  He rested his forehead against my temple, nose grazing mine, pleading for understanding.  And like the wind, I could feel his energy, I could breathe him in.

Most of all, I could sense when he disappeared, leaving the world abruptly still and silent in his absence.